‘What joy! What damn joy!’: vanilla boom transforms fortunes of Colombia’s farmers

A fistful of recently harvested vanilla crops in Bahía Solano, El Valle. They are picked when they look ripe and green, and are then left to dry and mature over three to four months. Photograph: Charlie Cordero/The Guardian

As he wanders around a corner of his land, inspecting his crops, Luilly Murillo González stops and leans down to examine a twisting green vine. He spots four budding flowers, early indications that he will soon harvest his prized product: vanilla.

“What joy! What damn joy!” he says, shaking his fists in the air, a smile spreading across his face. “Growing vanilla requires a lot of love. You have to be enamoured of the crop, passionate about it.”